1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio output apparatus, an audio input apparatus, an audio control apparatus, an audio control system, and an audio control method that are capable of controlling at least an audio signal between two or more apparatuses connected with an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface).
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, there have been systems in which a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as a “TV”) and an AV (Audio Visual) amplifier are connected with, for example, an HDMI (see Patent Document 1, for example).
In Patent Document 1, the TV is a sink device, the AV amplifier is a repeater device, and a DVD player is a source device, and a video signal out of audio and video signals transmitted from the DVD player is basically retransmitted from the AV amplifier to the TV and outputted as video by the TV. The audio signal is sometimes processed inside the AV amplifier and audio-outputted by an external speaker or sometimes retransmitted to the TV and audio-outputted by a speaker built into the TV.
Moreover, of course, a case where the TV is a source device and the AV amplifier is a sink device is also conceivable, and alternatively, if in each device, the HDMI has two lines for input and output, bidirectional communication of audio and video signals between these devices becomes possible.
(Patent Document 1)
    Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-124469 (paragraph [0013], FIG. 1)